Lesson 1: The Origins of "Wilsonianism"

Foreign policy was not a major issue during the 1912 presidential election, as that year's Democratic Party Platform demonstrated. The high tide of Progressivism was sweeping the nation, and Wilson, as well as his opponents William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt, promised the American people ambitious domestic reforms.

The above video provides a brief background and footage of President Wilson's first inauguration in 1913. 

Nevertheless, Wilson's First Inaugural Address offers clues to the principles that would later guide his foreign policy. As Wilson said, "We have built up . . . a great system of government, which has stood through a long age as in many respects a model for those who seek to set liberty upon foundations that will endure." He called for tariff reform, a crucial step toward open markets. Wilson's career as a political scientist and American historian provides additional insight into the formation of Wilsonianism. Wilson believed that the United States, as an exemplar of democratic rule, should promote the spread of democracy. As foreign policy matters began to dominate his attention, Wilson also came to believe that a global organization, or concert, of democratic nations could both spread democracy and prevent non-democratic nations from making war. Without active leadership by the United States, however, such a noble endeavor would fail.

In putting together his foreign policy, Wilson contended with several long-standing trends and principles in U.S. foreign policy. For example, the unilateralism articulated by George Washington in his 1796 Farewell Address still exerted powerful influence. If Wilson was to win public and legislative support for American leadership of a concert of democracies, he needed to rebut the belief that the United States best served its interest by avoiding "entangling alliances." The American System, or Monroe Doctrine, presented another challenge. Would Wilson accept the Roosevelt Corollary and Taft's Dollar Diplomacy, both of which extended the American System in the Western Hemisphere, or would he offer an alternative? The Roosevelt Corollary and Dollar Diplomacy also advanced Progressive Imperialism, as seen in the U.S. assumption of customs collections in the Dominican Republic beginning in 1905 and the sending of U.S. Marines to Nicaragua in 1911. Would Wilson accept without modification his predecessors' justifications for intervention in Latin America?

For definitions of the preceding terms, see the following sites, at the EDSITEment-reviewed resource The American President:

• Monroe Doctrine
• Roosevelt Corollary
• Dollar Diplomacy (linked from the EDSITEment-reviewed resource History Matters).

Because this lesson plan focuses on the sources of Wilsonianism and its precedents in American foreign policy, it does not provide comprehensive coverage of major issues such as the Mexican Revolution, World War I, and the League of Nations. For Edsitement lessons on World War I, see United States Entry into World War I: A Documentary Chronology; for the League of Nations, see The Debate in the United States over the League of Nations. This lesson does, however, provide a foundation for subsequent study of these topics in this unit's other lessons. Therefore, the primary sources used here do not require prior classroom treatment of these events.

NCSS.D1.2.9-12. Explain points of agreement and disagreement experts have about interpretations and applications of disciplinary concepts and ideas associated with a compelling question.

NCSS.D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.

NCSS.D2.His.2.9-12. Analyze change and continuity in historical eras.

NCSS.D2.His.3.9-12. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.

NCSS.D2.His.4.9-12. Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.

NCSS.D2.His.5.9-12. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives.

NCSS.D2.His.12.9-12. Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to pursue further inquiry and investigate additional sources.

NCSS.D2.His.14.9-12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.

NCSS.D2.His.15.9-12. Distinguish between long-term causes and triggering events in developing a historical argument.

NCSS.D2.His.16.9-12. Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past.

• Bookmark or print out the referenced websites. Print the Text Document that accompanies this lesson plan and distribute it to your students as a handout. The Text Document provides excerpts of the online documents used in this lesson, thus allowing your students to read only the pertinent portions of the source.
• The first activity uses clips from films. If you have a computer and projector in your classroom, check to see that you have the necessary software to view the films.
• This lesson plan presumes prior student knowledge about the Monroe Doctrine. Before beginning, you may want to remind them of the Doctrine's main points. Aids include the text of Monroe's address, available at The EDSITEment-reviewed site The Avalon Project, and the EDSITEment lesson plan on the Monroe Doctrine.
• A brief review of the life of Woodrow Wilson is available in the essay "A Life in Brief," at The American President.

Analyzing primary sources

• To provide your students with the skills needed to examine primary sources, you may find it helpful to visit the Learning Page at the American Memory site of the Library of Congress:
• In particular, students may find the "Mindwalk activity" useful in preparing to work with primary sources
• At the National Archives website, the Educator Respurces provides worksheets to practice document analysis

Activity 1. An Introduction to Woodrow Wilson

Students should familiarize themselves with Woodrow Wilson's life, career, and politics, via the EDSITEment-reviewed Internet Public Library:

• Brief, multi-media biography
• 1912 Democratic Party platform
• Wilson's First Inaugural Address

Students will read the text and view the accompanying photographs and film clips, then answer a series of focused questions designed to guide them to Wilson's views about democracy, the role of government, social and economic reform, and America's place in the world. These questions are available in worksheet form on pages 1-2 of the Text Document.

Activity 2. Traditionalists and Innovators

In the second activity, students will break into sets of two teams, the "traditionalists" and the "innovators." All teams will read the same primary sources, which are grouped into two sets. Each set joins an important Wilson statement on foreign policy to a statement made by a previous President. The traditionalists will look for parallels between the sources, while the innovators will find evidence of what is unique about Wilsonian foreign policy. Excerpts of the following documents have been provided on pages 4-8 of the Text Document, while worksheets to help the students make their lists may be found on pages 9-10. As an aid, all students will receive a one-page handout (located on page 3 of the Text Document) that briefly defines the four main components of Wilsonianism: spreading democracy, open markets, an international organization dedicated to keeping peace, and an active global role for the U.S.

Set 1

• Wilson's rejection of Dollar Diplomacy (1913)
• Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine (1904)
• William Howard Taft on "Dollar Diplomacy" (1912)

Set 2

• George Washington's Farewell Address (1796)
• Wilson's statement of neutrality (1914)
• Wilson's Peace without Victory speech (1917)
• Wilson's Second Inaugural Address (1917)

Activity 3. Traditionalists vs. Innovators: A Debate

The third activity consists of a debate between the traditionalists and the innovators about this question: "How new was Wilson's foreign policy?" Each side will give two short speeches answering and justifying their answers, followed by two responses from each side. For further guidance, see the Debate Instruction Sheet provided for teachers on page 11 of the Text Document.

Upon completion of the lesson, students should be able to write short (1–2 paragraph) answers to these questions:

• How did Wilson's work as a professor and a Progressive affect his thinking about foreign policy?
• What are the four major parts of Wilsonianism?
• How did Wilson's foreign policy differ from the policies of previous Presidents?

Students should be able to define and explain the importance of the following:

• Neutrality
• Roosevelt Corollary
• Dollar Diplomacy

Portions of the PBS/American Experience film "Woodrow Wilson" could be shown in class to provide additional information about the influences and events that shaped Wilson's thinking about the world and America's part in it. The short video clips about Wilson's legacy and importance, available at the companion website, could also be shown in class. The companion site also provides a lesson plan on War and Peace.

To trace the influence of Wilsonianism in 20th century U.S. foreign policy, students could select one of the four points of Wilsonianism treated in this lesson (spreading democracy for all nations, open markets, an international organization dedicated to keeping peace, and an active global role for the United States) and write a short essay explaining how Wilsonianism affected a major historical event or U.S. policy. Students could use the following EDSITEment-reviewed websites to make historical connections for their essays:

Spreading democracy

• Atlantic Charter
• Truman Doctrine

Open markets

• Marshall Plan
• NAFTA

International organization

• League of Nations (See also lesson 4 of this curriculum unit)
• United Nations

Active global role for the United States

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
• Korean War

Selected EDSITEment Websites

• The American President.org
  • Biography of Woodrow Wilson
• The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
  • George Washington's Farewell Address, 1796
  • Wilson Second Inaugural, 1917
• History Matters
  • Documents Relating to American Foreign Policy, 1898–1914
    • William Howard Taft, "Dollar Diplomacy," 1912
    • Wilson's rejection of dollar diplomacy, 1913
• Internet Public Library
  • The American Experience (PBS)
  • Woodrow Wilson
  • Brief, multi-media biography
  • 1912 Democratic Party platform
  • Wilson's First Inaugural Address
  • Wilson's Declaration of Neutrality
  • Wilson's Peace without Victory Speech
• National Archives and Records Administration
  • Our Documents
    • Roosevelt Corollary, 1904